


Indomitable Will

by UnapologeticallyMeatwad



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Trans, F/F, Gen, Trans Black Eagles, Trans Edelgard von Hresvelg, Trans Every Last One of Them!, Trans Hubert von Vestra, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24391507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnapologeticallyMeatwad/pseuds/UnapologeticallyMeatwad
Summary: "Lady Edelgard was…" Hubert starts carefully, speaking to the whole room. "...raised as a boy. But she wanted to be a girl and I helped teach her magic that could help. But there was only so much it could do."Byleth frowns and looks at Hubert's profile. "You learned all of that for her?"Some pink crawls into Hubert's cheek and he gets to his feet, noticeably avoiding eye contact with anyone. "...I learned it for myself actually. I was… erm… raised as a…"Ferdinand pats Hubert on the shoulder, and Hubert takes in a deep, shuddering breath. He sighs, "I was raised as a girl, and as a child I wanted nothing more than to swap places with my best friend, El. But…"(edelgard sacrifices herself and is taken in by Solon's black magic in byleth's place)
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 36





	Indomitable Will

**Author's Note:**

> CW: Body horror, referenced past self-ham, psychological abuse
> 
> This is a very dark fic but I promise it's uplifting by the end. It's also a very messy fic, I was definitely processing something when I wrote it. I hope it means as much to some of you as it did for me.
> 
> <3 Thanks!

Edelgard floats about in the dark — when she finally awakens, she understands it to be a very literal interpretation of how she's felt her whole life.

Edelgard is in this place because she was angry, angry at what Thales and Solon felt was appropriate to do to her friends. Angry at Kronya for going off-script and killing Jeralt. Angry at Byleth for so recklessly chasing Kronya down to kill her alone when they so obviously have people in their life who want to help them.

Angry at herself for getting in the way and taking the hit from Solon. So Edelgard floats about in this pool of darkness — unable to really feel much of anything. She supposes she's just trapped here.

She hopes the others are okay. Her betrayal against Those Who Slither in the Dark might mean the death of everyone she has ever loved… and to think, Edelgard is just one moon away from the truth. She was planning on telling her Eagles of her master plan soon… or rather, Hubert has been planning to do it since she won't.

Edelgard is convinced of something else. She thinks her classmates will turn against her when she —

Edelgard is distracted. The plumes of black and violet shift apart, revealing a diamond shape in the murkiness that reflects back a pale white. Edelgard raises her hand to it, peeling back her sleeve to see her own skin, and compares it with that of the white she sees. It must be a reflection of some sort. She drifts closer.

The planes continue to move in such a fashion that it hurts her eyes. By the time Edelgard is closer, the diamond shrinks into something much smaller and slides upward before vanishing. Before finally disappearing into the void, Edelgard catches a glimpse of lilac eyes staring back at her.

" _Edelgard…_ " a deep voice coos into her ear. She whips around but no one is there. The deep voice cackles, and the patterns around her shift faster at his voice. " _You little fool. Look hard, Edelgard_ — _see what it is that we can do for you."_

Edelgard furrows her brow. Fuck Thales. She knows better than to trust anything he…

...Edelgard catches the next reflection and sees brown strands of hair instead of the stark white she's been left with. But it's not enough of an image for her to really understand it. She can't help but drift closer and this time, she reaches it in time. She presses a finger to it, somehow knowing that this patch in the void is tangible. Patiently, she waits for the tiny diamond to expand.

" _I can remove you from this place with ease, Edelgard. You don't need to die for us just yet."_

Edelgard rolls her eyes. His voice is ruining the mood for her. "Tell me, Uncle. Is dearest Solon dead?"

Thales says nothing but all of the colors pulsate in one deep throb. It makes Edelgard smile to displease Thales that much.

" _Mind your tongue, Edelgard,_ " Thales growls. " _You are insolent, and worse yet you are weak. You toss and turn in your bed at night, crying out for the names of children I've killed in my efforts to… create_ _ **you**_ _."_

The mirror expands slowly. Edelgard catches her widow's peak, notes the big forehead she has. It's a perfect reflection of her, except with brown hair instead of white. But Edelgard knows there's a catch here; there's always a catch with Thales and she hasn't seen below her eyes just yet.

"You didn't create me," Edelgard says. "I made myself."

" _You ruined yourself, you mean,"_ Thales coos. " _I can restore your body and bring you back to life."_

Edelgard furrows her brow, waiting for the mirror to expand wide enough. Right now, she sees her nose slink into view.

" _It would leave this form of yours as a husk, but such is the life of an Agarthan._ "

"You've already crafted the new body," Edelgard says, mostly to get him to shut up and cut to the chase.

" _So blunt, ha ha,"_ Thales cackles. " _Perhaps."_

"So, I'm…" Edelgard bites her lip. "...I'm already dead."

" _Yes, but you know death means nothing to us_."

The mirror moves rapidly now. Edelgard's fingers dance across its surface in anticipation.

The upper lip is discolored, carrying this subtle hint of gray in its skin separate from the rest of her complexion. The new cheekbones are sharper, the jaw squarer. Edelgard doesn't want to see anymore but it's now that her body becomes paralyzed. She can't look away, can't even wince when she sees how the hair doesn't crawl any longer than the nape of the neck.

Edelgard has many secrets; being born and raised as a 'boy' is just one of them, one that she hasn't had time to work through.

" _The magic that boy, Von Vestra, taught you… the dark magic that made you into a 'woman'…_ "

Edelgard winces, despite her best efforts to ward off all eyes by covering every inch of her body in clothing, she's always felt naked before her uncle. It goes beyond that, the mental trauma he's inflicted on her… but she tries to block these memories out. Tries to keep things as simple as possible, but he knows her body all too well.

" _...it has damaged you, Edelgard. I can reconstruct you, born you back into the body of a man, and save you from this eternal torment. Let me help you, El_."

Thales isn't the first one to say that to Edelgard. _Let me help you._ Everyone tells her that nowadays. Byleth, Hubert, Caspar, Linhardt, Bernadetta, Ferdinand, Dorothea, Petra… and she always says " _No_ " to them and " _Yes_ " to Thales. Stupid.

Today, she looks into the mirror and growls.

"Fuck. You."

There's a horrible roar, and the magic around her moves fast, too fast for the eyes to track. Everything shakes and a plume of magic surges at her face and punches into her eyes. Her head jerks back and everything becomes fully dark.

* * *

"I don't understand, Hubert, Solon just did Goddess knows what to Edelgard and you're not letting us bring her to Manuela!"

Byleth is enraged, seething even. They've felt anger at the boy before, but not yet has Hubert been this much of a nuisance. They jab a finger right at Hubert's face. "Your loyalty to her is going to get her killed!"

Hubert's eyes narrow; it's a look he is sure Byleth remembers all too well from their first days at the academy. He snorts, and swats Byleth away, looking to the rest of the Eagles, eying the temple they've holed themselves up in.

Truly, it's not safe here — from Hubert's late night scouting, he knows that some of Those Who Slither in the Dark dwell in this temple within the Sealed Forest, but there's nowhere else to bring Lady Edelgard to keep her safe from those monsters at the Church.

"We can't bring her to Manuela," Hubert sneers. "I can't explain, and I'm sorry that I can't — just trust me. She's safer with us than under Lady Rhea's gaze."

Byleth's eyebrow twitches; they don't trust the Church either, and they are familiar with Edelgard's scars — at least in knowing that they exist — but they don't believe… or don't _want_ to believe that the Church could be so heartless to Byleth's best friend.

Linhardt looks up, his face so pale it looks like he might need to lie down too. He brushes a hand over Edelgard's forehead. "I can't work like this, Hubert," he frowns. "I can't save her if you don't let me look. Please."

Hubert doesn't move, apparently in deep thought.

Byleth shakes their head and pulls out the Sword of the Creator, sliding to the top of Edelgard's tunic. They look back to Hubert and mouth, " _I'm sorry,"_ because they really do understand what Hubert is so concered about. Closing their eyes, not wanting to see, Byleth slowly carves apart Edelgard's tunic, but is forced to look when it's done and peeled off of her body.

No one says anything for some time.

Without the uniform or legging, with just Edelgard in her undershirt and shorts, the scars are in plain sight and they are horrible to behold. Gray marks carved deep into her skin riddle her body, and there are so many on her arms and legs that it's nearly impossible to ignore.

"Wh-what…" Linhardt gasps. "Holy shit, Hubert. This isn't… this isn't from Solon's spell is it?"

Byleth wants to answer but at some point they started crying; they probably didn't know it was this bad. Hubert knew, but it's still a lot for even him to take in.

"...these are old scars," Hubert mutters. "From Lady Edelgard's childhood."

"Edie…" Dorothea sighs, holding Edelgard's limp wrist high. "Hubert, the scars right here look a lot more fresh, could these be from…"

"No," Hubert says curtly. "Um, I — I didn't know about these, can I…"

"Stop," Byleth says, finally regaining control over their voice. They know what the scars on the wrist mean. "We can't… we can't do anything about those. Um. Edelgard must have… I think she hurts herself there. We can take care of it later."

"Yes, good call, Professor," Hubert says glumly, kneeling down in the dirt besides him, his own eyes glistening. He really didn't know. "Thea, Lin. Could you scavenge something from the forest to make a bed for her? I don't want Lady Edelgard laying down on stone like this."

The two of them nod and get to their feet.

"I have a question," Bernadetta squeaks from the back. She struts to the front fast and looks at Hubert for permission. "Can I…"

Hubert nods.

Bernadetta gently falls to her knees and looks at Edelgard's chest. It's subtle enough, but after enough staring it becomes obvious that Edelgard's anatomy is a little off for being a 'girl.' Bernadetta claps her hands to her face and whimpers something like, "Edelgard's just like me…" At least, it sort of sounds like that past all of the crying.

Byleth's eyes widen and they look to Edelgard's groin. This is starting to feel like it's unfair to Edie, but they understand very quickly what's going on.

"Lady Edelgard was…" Hubert starts carefully, speaking to the whole room. "...raised as a boy. But she wanted to be a girl and I helped teach her magic that could help. But there was only so much it could do."

Byleth frowns and looks at Hubert's profile. "You learned all of that for her?"

Some pink crawls into Hubert's cheek and he gets to his feet, noticeably avoiding eye contact with anyone. "...I learned it for myself actually. I was… erm… raised as a…"

Ferdinand pats Hubert on the shoulder, and Hubert takes in a deep, shuddering breath. He sighs, "I was raised as a girl, and as a child I wanted nothing more than to swap places with my best friend, El. But…"

Again, there's this horrible silence.

Ferdinand is the first to speak. "You know you're not alone, Hubert. Um, my name might be Ferdinand, but I was born as, uh, well… that is to say…"

Hubert's cheeks are shining now with tears. This topic is the only thing that makes him feel this emotional. "Really?" he gasps.

Ferdinand nods. "Raised as a girl, yes. And um… Bernadetta, if I can speak for you," he looks to her for permission. "We've done quite a bit of bonding over it, but she was raised as a boy."

Bernadetta nods to confirm, face buried in her hands. Byleth rests a hand on her shoulder, not sure what to do.

Linhardt steps forward. "Girl too, tired, don't feel like explaining. Anyone else?"

Petra smiles in the back. "We get to do the choosing in Brigid, even though I was born with the male anatomy."

"Wait," Hubert says. "This is getting silly."

"Too bad!" Caspar cries out, arm hung around Dorothea's shoulder. "Hubert, you're gonna teach Dorothea and I your magic so we can swippy swap!" Off of an awkward silence, Caspar contines, "Because we're both — "

"Ugh, we get it, Caspar," Linhardt moans.

"Heh," Caspar grins.

"Wait," Hubert crosses his arms. "We're all… um, I've called it Those Who Alter Their Gender."

"That's stupid," Byleth says, gently punching Hubert on the arm. "I don't identify as a girl or as a boy, let's call it _trans_ gender. That's what Hanneman would come up with I bet. Hey, listen — " they step forward. " — we are family, and we're going to get Edelgard through this. So let's hop to it."

Hubert smiles. Loathe they are to admit it, but he is eternally grateful for Byleth's presence on the team.

* * *

" _Come, Edelgard, why are you fighting me? It is fruitless_ ," Thales hisses.

"Fruitless?"Edelgard sneers. "You speak like a thespian in a particularly juicy role."

" _Pah._ "

Edelgard's head rings like she has been fighting for hours, but she cannot recall any of it. Words slip past her and vanish without a trace. It's not like her to be so disoriented.

The black slides away and she sees herself the day Thales allowed her to be returned into the light. Her short brown hair once wavy and soft singed snow white, the texture brittle and unpleasant. Even as a child, her despair is so obvious.

Thales stands across Hubert's father, chattering away with him about something Edelgard is not ought to pay attention to. Her dreary eyes focus on Hubert, who looks different than she remembers. Gawky as ever, shorts pulled high, revealing knobby knees, his soft jaw seems sharper as do his eyes. While Edelgard notes that his father still refers to Hubert with feminine pronouns, she sees some well-hidden excitement glimmer in his eyes.

Hubert hides his emotions well, but little Edelgard knows just what to look for.

Though the twitch in Hubert's jaw fastly reminds Edelgard of her own wretched appearance, and sher knows she'll need to tell Hubert the truth before he can share his fun discoveries with her.

The moment they are alone, little Edelgard slams the door behind her and stares up at her best friend. She is eight and he is eleven.

"You figured it out," Edelgard says, pink rising to her cheeks. "Tell me!"

Hubert shoves a hand into his messy hair. "Erm — forgive me, Lady Edelgard, I'll share with you what I have taught myself… I'll help you master it, but for now — wh-what happened to you? You look sick."

Edelgard frowns. She doesn't want to talk about this, the memories are already fading and she wants them to remain in the dark of her mind. She looks at the floor, scared that if she tells Hubert too much that Uncle will kill him too. Edelgard tried so hard to protect her brothers and sisters and yet… it's just her now.

" _Already, you were planning to betray me_ ," Thales hisses into the adult Edelgard's ear. " _You don't think I knew_?"

Edelgard blinks away tears — he's hurting her, squeezing her arm tight. Even in his most unfocused of states, he still hurts her, plays with her body like a toy. She tries not to focus on him, tries to remove him from her mind. She wants this scene with Hubert to play out unaffected.

"I wanted to trade bodies with you, Hubert," little Edelgard whispers. "So you could be a boy and I could be a girl, but…" The poor thing checks the windows, and even the dark corners to make sure no unseen force is watching, then rolls her tunic sleeve past the elbow, revealing a matrix of ugly scars to Hubert.

"They did bad things to me," Edelgard says, her voice so soft.

Hubert narrows his eyes. "Your brothers and sisters…?"

"Dead," Edelgard says so resolutely, so quickly has she accepted this. "I wouldn't wish for anyone to have my body after what they did to it." She speaks like an adult, like the cold hearted Flame Emperor the current Edelgard knows so well. "I can change, and you can too, but we can't swap."

"I don't think we can swap anyways," Hubert sighs, standing so far away from Edelgard. She notices now as an adult how his little hands tighten and pull the knuckle white in grief. They were always so angry. "Um, come onto my bed, tell me of what happened."

Even his girlish voice is dark and contains those familiar Hubert-isms.

"What happened can't be changed," Edelgard says, almost annoyed. "What happens next is we kill them." She waits for Hubert to respond, and from her impatience she clarifies, "We kill every last one of them."

The room erupts back into plumes of dark and Thales' bone white hands drag Edelgard back into the abyss. He keeps talking, keeps telling her things. Demands things from her, orders her to do bad things, he hits her. Over and over again, so many times over Edelgard becomes susceptible enough to distraction.

"If you've known all along," she rasps. "Then why let me live?"

Thales doesn't answer, too enraptured in his own beating of her. He kicks her in the stomach and she hardly moves. He snickers and kicks her in the skull and because this world she's in isn't real she has to suffer through it without passing out.

Edelgard looks at her curled up fingers all the while, thinking about — anything else. All the power in the world and can't do a damned thing to this bastard because she needs him.

…

There is this blinding green light and a horrible screech, when it fades, Thales is gone. Edelgard stumbles to her feet, squinting into the bright green light, so numb to what is to come next.

" _Oh dear, Edelgard… you're going to wage war on my daughter?"_ a child chatters off in the distance. " _I suppose I can't stop you, you're quite determined. When the time comes, aim for the head I guess."_

"Sothis, enough!"

Edelgard's eyes shoot wide open. That voice… it couldn't be… (and back it up, _Sothis?_ )

The Professor reaches through the light and takes Edelgard by the hand, there's a flash of light and she's awake. She rises fast, all the pain she should have felt earlier ripping through her body. She pants, knees high at her chest. Everything's blurry. She falls back, and it's Byleth's hand that is propping Edelgard up and away from the slimy wall behind her.

Edelgard winces, staring at Byleth's vibrant green hair. Green? Since when?

"Lady Edelgard," Hubert coos, leaning towards her. A mixture of soot and tears mars his cheek. "Are you alright?"

Edelgard takes in her surroundings. She's been to this temple before — she used to meet Jeritza here in the dead of the night for mission reports.

"Y-yes," she stutters. Her voice is low and raspy; is it because she's tired or is it because… she holds her hand before herself, her bare hand mind you. She notes Byleth's serious expression past the blur of white, they've removed some of Edelgard's clothing and finally found all the scars she's been hiding. But Edelgard finds herself focused on a new scar — her hand. It's… wider. Not as soft, she curls her fingers against her palm and sighs, realizing why her voice is deeper.

Her skin is also full shades paler than her prior complexion before this. Edelgard can venture a guess as to why that is, but she's not interested in thinking things through right now. She's in _this moment_ , more vulnerable than she's ever been.

She looks to Byleth, embarrassed. She never wanted Byleth to see her for what really was, just a creepy boy—

"You're alright," Byleth whispers, running fingers through Edelgard's much shorter (and natural) hair. Brown and cropped off above the neck. "I killed Solon for what he did to you."

"Th-thanks," Edelgard grunts, not sure if Byleth intends that as romantic or not. She's certainly a fan, either way. "Don't be concerned about the scars," she adds hastily. "They're… all old."

"Most of them," Hubert chastises, eying her wrists. "It will be discussed later. Are you strong enough to get up?"

"Always" Edelgard sighs, as if it's some kind of mantra. She gets to her feet, knees knobby. She eyes her hand again, stretching the webs between her fingers. The power of her twin Crests still lives in her at least.

Hubert nods and gets to his feet, unbuttoning his school jacket. When she manages to get to her feet, he gently slips it over her arms and wraps it snug around her. Halfway down the thighs it goes, still leaving her exposed and ravaged skin.

"This is fast, and you will be cross with me," Hubert groans. "But it's time, Lady Edelgard. You need to tell our Eagles the truth."

"The truth?" Edelgard quirks an eyebrow, and looks to Byleth, feigning a smile. "What is he going on about?"

"Well, you just got de-transitioned for starts," Byleth sighs. "Super weird." They unsheathe their sword, extending it to Edelgard. At first, she doesn't understand but after looking at it long enough Edelgard notices that it's _not_ the Sword of Creator, but Thunderbrand. Her heart quickens and she looks into Byleth's teal eyes. "...How long have I been out?"

"A few days," Byleth sighs, walking off towards the exit, probably to bring in the rest of the Black Eagles. They seem very peeved. Most unlike them.

Edelgard cranes her neck to look to Hubert. "You didn't tell them… did you?"

"No," Hubert replies promptly. "But I did not allow the Knights of Seiros to take you… I know what they would have done if they found out the truth."

Edelgard looks at the exit, catching the last of Byleth's cape. "They didn't… kill them, did they?"

"Hostages," Hubert groans. "Very complicated. Catherine, Seteth, Shamir, Alois, uh, it's messy. Do you need a pep talk? We can transition you back I think, if that's where you're worried about..."

Edelgard rolls her eyes, fighting the temptation to just laugh until she cries. This is not how her war was supposed to start. "I'm not worried about that just yet, I know I can use magic to do _that_. Rhea is planning a second assault then?"

"Without a doubt, she's quite upset, I heard her yelling at the Gatekeeper last night, so I'm expecting her to show up any hour now," Hubert sighs, placing a hand on Edelgard's shoulder, guiding her back to the floor. She just lets it happen, she doesn't feel very in-control right now. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do."

"You're fine," Edelgard smiles, too tired to be kind in her voice, and hopes that statement alone will be enough to quell Hubert's insecurities. "Do the others understand why the Church can't take me?"

"No," Hubert rubs his nose. "They're expecting you to explain… I, erm, don't feel that it's my place."

"It's alright," Edelgard sighs. This was to come eventually, she just wishes it weren't so fast, especially when she's not even sure how she's going to maintain her allegiance with her Uncle. She's played her part well over the years but he knows the truth now too, and she's suspecting what he just did to her body is another power play of his. "Uncle tried to convince me to become a man for him, promised he'd revive me if I let him do it."

Hubert frowns, and rubs her left shoulder, thumb hooking onto her shoulder blade. "Well I suppose he wanted his cake and ate it too then, um, the other Eagles know about _that_ too… but don't worry, we're all… uh, by some miracle, trans."

Edelgard raises an eyebrow. She's never heard the term but she's smart enough to put two and two together. She thinks of all her Eagles and in her mind's eye she sees them vividly, as if it's just now that they all make sense to her. But her mind gets stuck on one. "Even the Professor?"

"They don't identify as male or female," Hubert explains. "So yeah, they sort of get it. Not the weird black magic stuff we did, but the sentiment? Oh yes."

Edelgard's head hurts with how fast this is moving. She is really expected _now_ to explain her master plan to her classmates? She supposes there's no harm, if they already took the Knights of Seiros hostage then… she must be safe. But she didn't actually see nor hear her Eagles tell Hubert they would fight for Edelgard against all else, so it's confusing and either way, she's going to need to concoct a new plan.

They step into the room, all together. All bloody and covered in dirt. Edelgard rises to her feet, looking at them from the height of the stone steps and fights back tears. She's had a very long few days in Hell and it feels like any moment now she'll awaken to Thales laughing at her again. But thankfully, Sothis — that's another issue too, _Sothis?!_ Since when?! _**How?!**_ — scared him away… for now.

Edelgard furrows her brow. Questions come at her fast but she can't, she just needs to get through this. She raises her hand, resisting as much twitching as she can.

She cracks her neck, looking at the Black Eagles sullenly, and raises Hubert's baggy sleeve past her elbow like she did as a child before telling the story. There are so many scars on her arm… she tries to look past them.

"The Church can't see any of this because if they knew, they'd figure out who I really am."

Byleth bites their lip down below. "Which is?"

Edelgard hesitates. Who is she? What's the easiest way to put it? Shall she start subtly and ease her way into the truth, or should she rip the band-aid off now and speak the truth?

"I'm the Flame Emperor."

* * *

Well that sucked.

The Black Eagles _did_ take it well, though they also had a ton of questions which Edelgard had no time to answer given that Rhea is coming to their hideout _right now_.

"El," Byleth begs, trying to drag Edelgard back. "Let us go with you at least, let us do _something._ "

Edelgard rips her hand away from Byleth and spits back. "I do this alone. Take care of the others," and marches on. She hates herself for it but this is what Edelgard does — who cares if her friends hate her, Edelgard is bound to die young. She'd rather save them the burden.

Edelgard does feel ill-prepared though. Dressed only in her shorts, top, and Hubert's jacket, she's covered in dirt and other filth. There wasn't time to put everything back on, so she hardly looks like herself. No red cape, no ribbon to her hair, no leggings and gloves to hide her hideous scars.

She meets Rhea on a stone platform in the forest. Violet blood splatters the rocks and Edelgard suspects this is where Byleth slaughtered Solon for her. Eyes half-lidded, she looks to Rhea. "Let me go and I'll give you back your Professor."

Rhea smirks, sending a chill up Edelgard's spine. "How stupid do you think I am, little girl? It's from my understanding that it is your Professor who led the revolt. Shamir, Alois, Catherine, all of them were just trying to help you. Oh, don't look so frightened, child."

Edelgard frowns, she feels so stupid. Of course Rhea already figured out that it wasn't safe to ever let any of the Black Eagles return to Garreg Mach, at least the woman hasn't commented on her… um, sudden boyhood.

Rhea tilts her head to the side. " _I_ am the negotiator: give yourself over to me and I promise to not kill your friends."

Edelgard furrows her brow and reaches for her ax. Simultaneously, Rhea tightens her knuckles, the gauntlets shining in the golden morning light.

Rhea cracks an ugly grin. "Okay, I'll kill every last one of you for defying the Church then."

Rhea moves at Edelgard faster than any — human — Edelgard has seen. Yet somehow, despite her 'humanity,' Edelgard moves as fast as Rhea as if she herself weren't human... anymore. But even then, Edelgard can't keep up. She's too distracted, too unable to focus. Though she fights valiantly, Rhea cracks Edelgard in the stomach and then in the chin. Edelgard screams and her voice is so deep so she screams some more, eyes welling with tears. She raises her silver ax and swings at Rhea's thin neck — but Rhea's next punch courses clean through the ax and it crumbles.

Rhea grabs the handle to the ax and swings it into Edelgard's cheek, smacking her hard, blood shooting out of her mouth. Violet blood like Solon's. Edelgard runs Hubert's sleeve against her lips and moves in to strike again but it's no use; Rhea pummels Edelgard and kicks her to the ground.

Edelgard lifts her cheek from the dirt, her bare white legs covered in similar filth. This isn't how she envisioned her death. She thought she'd be poised and proper, but instead she has the appearance of a street urchin getting stamped out by a holy guard. But this is who she is, this is the Edelgard who can protect her loved ones.

She tries one last time, her voice quavering. "I cast a spell on them, kill me first and you'll see that none of your students will rebel against…"

"Pathetic," Rhea's eyes flash white. The pupils don't return. "How long have you been planning this?"

Edelgard growls, and feels darkness plume underneath her hands where Rhea can't see it.

"Do you know who I am, Edelgard?" Rhea snarls.

Edelgard winces and pushes her hands into the dark, she resists squirming when two scabby hands touch her knuckle, gifting her with a weapon. Edelgard pulls away from Thales' hands and an orange light sparks from the black and cuts through the air, cuts through Rhea's chest. It's too fast for Edelgard to take in the details — but the ax is an imposter relic, one she later re-names Amyr.

Rhea clutches her bleeding chest, white fire shooting from her nose. Her breathing gets heavier and white flames light up the ground besides her. Edelgard steps back and hits the ground running, eyes on the temple. She needs help, or she needs to help her friends, she's not sure which.

There's a roar from behind her, a monstrous roar that is lined with Rhea's alto voice. A large figure blots out the morning sun and the head of a dragon trails over Edelgard's path. No no no no… this can't be happening...

More darkness plumes from the ground and out comes Thales, smirking. He snaps his talons and a black portal appears besides him. " _Get in,_ " he says.

Edelgard freezes in place, and grabs the sides of the portal, pushing her arms in past the elbow. She screams and pushes hard on the black magic Thales conjured. It hurts a lot, it burns at her flesh. She feels her flesh crack as she tries to make this work. She feels her eyes in particular alter in feeling the longer she holds the portal.

Thales playfully raises an eyebrow. " _What are you doing_?"

Rhea, later known as the Immaculate One, roars, and a beam of fire flies over Edelgard's head and towards the temple; she's running out of time.

Edelgard roars as loud as Rhea and pulls so hard on the portal that it loses form, the darkness plumes around her arms and she stabs at the air, the magic becoming its own black beam to mirror Rhea's fire. It soars beneath and quickly cuts ahead, making it to the temple before the flames.

Edelgard prays that her friends listened to her and stayed put, else the extended portal means nothing.

Confident her magic has saved her friends, she pulls one arm free from the black and whirls around, miming a choke that _works_. A massive phantom hand curls around the Immaculate One's long neck and it chokes, the flames sputtering into nothingness.

For a moment, Edelgard just stands there with wide eyes. This creature is… words fail her at how beautiful it is. White scales shine in the morning light and sparkle. But Edelgard knows it's her enemy, and she can't, she can't show mercy… but something stops her. She releases her choke hold and backs into the portal, bowing into the shadows…

Black encloses around Edegard's vision of the Sealed Forest and the last thing she hears before it all goes dark is Thales, " _That's a good boy_."

* * *

Edelgard lands on hard stone and pain shoots into her knees. She stumbles forward, and falls into a genuflect before her father. There is a symphony of moans and groans from her friends who were all successfully warped into Enbarr along with her. Edelgard faintly wonders if she was strong enough to reroute the Warp to Shambala, or if her Uncle just wanted them here.

"Dear Goddess," Duke Aegir is the first to speak. He stands besides Edelgard's father with a tray in hand. "What the fuck are you — _Ferdinand!_ Why are you — "

"Hi, Dad," a disgruntled Ferdinand whimpers from the back. Now that Edelgard knows he's trans too, she can detect the shimmer of a higher voice beyond Ferdinand's bravado. She's excited to get to know these people better.

"Father," Edelgard blurts out, trying to ignore her own violet blood spilling over the floor. "I have done it — I started the war on the Church."

Duke Aegir spits something out, possibly water. "War?!"

But Father stands there with a plain expression. "El…"

"Sooner than expected, I need to be crowned Emperor," Edelgard says boldly. "Now, right now, else everything we've worked towards is gone and — "

Father raises a withered hand to the air, gently silencing her. His eyes are exploding with feeling. "El…" he repeats. "I will make you Emperor, fret not but…" He bites his thin lip.

Edelgard looks up.

" _El, what did they do to you?_ "

Edelgard is crowned Emperor hastily and all the needed documentation is completed… aside from the declaration of war. Byleth doesn't let Edegard's finish that, and drags Edelgard down the hall and into a random room. They seat Edelgard on a wooden stool and begin sobbing. They wrap their arms around Edelgard and pull her in so close.

"Stop," Byleth whimpers. "Stop. Please, El. You're destroying yourself."

"Wh-what?" Edelgard stutters.

The rest of the Black Eagles filter into the room and they all look so concerned.

It makes Edelgard feel so stupid. What is going on?

Dorothea comes in with a mirror and raises it to Edelgard's face.

"I already know what Thales did to me," Edelgard snaps, she looks to the mirror. "I'm fine—"

Edelgard catches a glimpse into the mirror; she's not fine.

Her eyes are like black pockets of magic and there are no irises — just crimson red pupils.

She's Agarthan now.

"Wh-what?" Edelgard stutters. "No, no, he didn't…"

Right, Thales told her that she died in the black void. This must have been the only way to keep her alive. Else she'd be as dead as her siblings.

"No war," Byleth says childishly. "Not yet, please."

Edelgard looks to Hubert for help but he just nods back. "I think… this was inevitable from our dealings with Thales."

Edelgard frowns. "Hubert, I had to…"

"I know," Hubert slips in. "And this only happened because you…" His voice putters out, but all eyes fall onto Byleth, the person Edelgard sacrificed herself for, only for her soul to get chewed up and spit back out.

"I'm sorry," Edelgard's throat is too tight and dry not to cry. She buries her head into Byleth's shoulder. "I'm so fucking sorry… I was just…"

Byleth takes Edelgard's hands and cradles them so gently. "Hey, hey, it's okay, calm down…"

"B-but," Edelgard looks up, it's almost impossible to see past all the tears. "You… you hate me, y-you…"

"No, sh, sh," Byleth runs a hand through Edelgard's hair, gently massaging her scalp. "Everyone in this room loves you, um, and if I can be bold, I might love you most — "

Hubert coughs.

" — um, I love you most _non-platonically_ ," Byleth corrects.

Edelgard reels back and looks at Byleth, blinking. "What? What does that — you don't — "

"Yeah, I do," Byleth smiles, face glowing in a way that Edelgard's complexion probably never can again. "Please. No war. We need you to take care of yourself first, I can't keep watching you fade away from us…"

Edelgard wants to protest but she's so out of energy now that she has nothing, she can only look on dumbly while they dictate her new fate.

"You're fighting like you, yourself, aren't worth it and I'm not letting you go out alone ever again," Byleth says, voice so pristine and soft. "None of us are, but you have to let us help you."

Edelgard frowns; her plan wasn't supposed to move this quickly. Maybe a moon from now this would be the case, but she supposes that does give her three weeks to try to heal, to try to love her friends and cherish them the way her heart asks her to.

Edelgard kisses Byleth, lips folding into the biggest smile she can make at contact.

"Aw fuck yeah," Byleth whispers.

Edelgard grins back and presses her forehead against Byleth's when it's over. "Three weeks just to focus on healing and we will reconvene at the end to discuss next steps. I did in fact choke a dragon today — "

Caspar almost vomits from excitement, but instead he just spits all over the place. "YOU CHOKED A DRAGON?!"

"Caspar — " Linhardt moans.

"S'okay," Caspar runs a hand through his hair. "I'm cool, I'm cool, I'm, uh," cheeks pink, he turns on his heel. "Gonna go for a walk. Fuck I wanna choke a dragon."

"Same," Linhardt says, looping an arm around Caspar's shoulders. The moment they hit the exit, Linhardt swings his legs up and Caspar catches him, carrying him out of sight.

Over the next few minutes, all the Eagles pair off and leave. Dorothea and Petra, Hubert and Ferdinand and Bernadetta…

Byleth looks at Edelgard seriously. "I know you want to end the Crest system and abolish nobility but… I want you to think about this and seriously consider what you just saw."

Edelgard doesn't know what to say so she remains silent.

Byleth quirks a grin. "You made that." They gesture towards where all the Eagles just stood. "You brought us together. I want you to remember that and feel that this week… especially when you inevitably start feeling sad again."

Byleth touches Edelgard's wrists. Edelgard doesn't like getting touched there but for Byleth, she'll allow it.

"We're here for you, we love you," Byleth says. "And we're never letting you walk alone again."

Edelgard sort of understands. "Okay."

They kiss again.

**Author's Note:**

> You can [follow me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/IAmLordMeatwad) for tweets about my cats and fanfic, and [follow me on Insta](https://www.instagram.com/katrinajagelski/) for similar stuff. Occasionally I do live reads for my original fiction and fanfic.


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